Match Report
JEF United went into the game 3rd in the table on 69 points; Iwaki sat 9th on 56 — a 13-point gap. The last five rounds placed Iwaki 4th in the league for form — higher than their 9th in the standings. Per game in the league, JEF United were scoring 1.47 and conceding 0.89, Iwaki 1.45 and 1.16, against a competition average of 1.23 goals per team per game.
5 meetings are on record — 2 won by JEF United, 2 by Iwaki, 1 drawn, at 1.4 goals per meeting. The host's record in this fixture is thin — 40% of meetings won. These meetings skew tight — only 20% saw more than two goals.
The match was played at Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba (capacity 19,781). Half-time and full-time told different stories: Iwaki led 1-0 at the break, before 3 more goals closed it at 2-2.